By Way of Sorrow Minisode1
by Bad Day at Black Rock
Summary: After two weeks of mind-numbing grief, Sam and Kayla turn to what they know best and start looking for a solution.
1. Chapter 1

Authors Note: This fic takes part of a series based on the actual episodes of Supernatural. Sam Winchester belongs to the creator and writers for the show (you hear that Sam? they OWN you). Background on Kayla can be found in previous episodes from the series.

_My grief lies all within, and these external manners of lament are merely shadows to the unseen grief that swells with silence in the tortured soul._

_-William Shakespeare_

By Way of Sorrow

It had been two weeks since Lilith came to collect and he watched his brother's life violently ripped away from him. Though he'd spent the last three hundred hours trying to make sense of everything, Sam couldn't see the reason for it. They'd helped people, saved lives, made the world a little bit safer and who the hell cared? He'd go back and destroy every good deed they did if it meant Dean was sitting next to him right now cracking a lame joke.

His research now went in the same circles as it did before. Nothing new, nothing helpful. Nothing that was going to get him out. As for Kayla, well, to be honest he didn't know what Kayla had done for two weeks. Without a word of explanation she'd checked into the room next to him, connected by a door they never opened. In a way it was a relief; seeing her suffer only added to his misery.

The silence he had grown accustomed to was interrupted by a knocking at the side door. It wasn't locked but she was knocking. Sam got up from the desk and pulled the door open.

"Let's go open the hell gate."

"You say that like we can just go out and do it."

"I know, we don't have the colt. But we still have that replica right? The same model?"

"The colt is the colt, I doubt a replica is gonna work."

"But we can try. Plus, I've been doing some research and I found some spells and rituals that we can try, you know, just give it everything."

Sam sighed quietly, he had been doing his own research on the gate and probably found similar information. "We don't know what's going to come out of there."

"But we know what _could_ come out of there. Everything else we can kill."

He looked at her for a long time. She seemed to be rested and composed, like she'd already set this plan in her head and was ready to go. Finally he stepped back away from the doorway.

"Okay." He closed his laptop and pulled the plug out of the wall. The idea wasn't completely insane; he'd thought about it himself. If dad climbed his way out through the gates, Dean sure as hell could.

Satisfied with the quick response, Kayla grabbed her already packed bag off her bed and brought it out to the Impala. As she tossed it into the trunk and walked around she paused to look at the driver's seat. The spot where Dean should be. She swallowed her grief and climbed into the passenger seat.

Sam drove in silence for hours. Admittedly he tried to get into her thoughts, but there was nothing to listen to. Her mind was as blank as her expression as she stared out the window. Maybe she'd figured out how to block him out. The only time she moved until the first gas station was to turn on the radio: classic rock. Ironic how she couldn't stand it when they first met up. Seemed like a lifetime ago now.


	2. Chapter 2

"I don't see any kind of activity that says demon in that area." Bobby's voice was a trivial comfort through her speaker. "My guess is everything that came out that gateway knew well enough to get away from it. No sense in risking it."

"Alright, thanks for checking Bobby."

"Sure, it's good to hear from you. You two take care of yourselves."

"Yeah, you too." She closed her phone and slipped it back into her bag. "He says there's nothing."

"Good, less interruptions then."

She didn't think it was good news. You'd think there would be something hanging around the area, guarding the gateway. The lack of a demon presence made it seem like there was nothing to protect. Her hope faded some but she forced herself not to slip further into her comfortable sense of failure. There are other options after this one.

Sam pulled into the cemetery and parked at the end of the road. They got out with caution, in a location like this it was smarter to expect the worst. She handed him the colt.

"Let's do this."

They gathered as many supplies as they could carry in the event of another flood of demons escaping. Just because they didn't stop to chat the first time didn't mean it couldn't happen. They had to be ready.

He headed the way towards the crypt, a familiar wave of nostalgia washed over him as they got closer. What a night that was; the night Yellow Eyes finally got what was coming to him. Seeing the light go out in him was one of those moments that made hunting make sense.

They looked at each other as they stood in front of the door. Kayla gave him a nod of encouragement and he slid the colt into the slot. It clicked into place with ease and he firmly shifted it sideways. He felt the stone beneath it shift in sequence, but nothing happened. Sam repeated the action with the same result.

"It's not doing anything."

"What do you mean it's not doing anything?"

"I mean…nothing is happening."

Not that she didn't believe him, but she took hold of the colt and tried it for herself. This is why there was nothing guarding the gateway-they didn't have a way to open it. Either it had to be _the_ colt or maybe it was just a one time deal.

"Well that's…uneventful." She sighed quietly. Of course it wasn't going to be that easy, if it was everyone would be making crossroads deals. She'd definitely be up to making a deal right now.

He holstered the gun. "So we'll try something else."

They stayed at that cemetery for four hours. Ritual after ritual, spell after spell and nothing made that damn door budge. They ran out of things to try before they ran out of the resources to do them. So far the score was 0-1.

Sam risked a side glance to her as they gathered the remaining supplies. "You ok?"

And she _had_ been, until he'd asked. It was hearing it out loud that set her off and she hated herself for not stopping the tears that came to her eyes. Wasn't a straight two weeks of this enough? She immediately turned away from him and started back to the car.

"Kayla it's ok."

"How is it ok?!" She snapped, then gathered herself. "I'm sorry."

He walked a few steps behind her. "I meant it's ok to react that way."

"I'm fine. Let's just get out of here."

"I didn't mean…"

"When we came out here the first time, didn't you say something about a vampire nest?"

"What?" Did she just completely change the subject?

"I thought you said there was a nest nearby."

He paused. "Uh, yeah. Rumored anyway. But it's a couple hours…"

"Let's do that."

"You want to hunt?" He sounded surprised.

_I want to kill something._ She realized he'd probably heard that. "I just want a distraction."

He thought over the hunt; going after vampires without the colt? They'd have to take the heads off and on a large scale it would be near impossible. To try to kill one before the others get to you, damn. It was pretty close to suicidal. And exactly what he could go for right now. From the look on her face she was in the same mindset. With a nod he opened the trunk of the Impala so they could switch their arsenal.

"So let's bag up some vampires."

She didn't smile, just nodded in agreement before setting her pistol into the trunk. Kayla took a dagger from its case and unscrewed the top of the dead man's blood. She poured some of the contents into the casing and slipped it back in. "Let's go."


	3. Chapter 3

The research on the nest was ancient history but Sam found the abandoned farm house right where the map said it would be. He had parked the Impala more than a mile down the road and had walked until the clearing. A couple faint lights shone from lower windows, they weren't showy but keeping a low profile didn't make them innocent. They watched in silence as one of the vampires drug what appeared to be a body wrapped in sheets into the house.

This would be the time to ask how many there were. Night was the worst time to go after them; it was when they were the strongest. Neither of them asked, neither of them even wondered. Sam gave her a nod and took out his gun, a pistol with the ammunition soaked in dead man's blood. She put her hand on the handle of the dagger as they moved in closer to the house.

There was no time to lurk. If they weren't distracted they surely already knew they were there. They could smell the blood, hear the heartbeats as they got closer to the house. Several voices could be heard inside and Kayla peered into one of the windows.

A man, well, vampire pulled a live woman out from the sheets and was tying her to a chair in the living room while three others stood nearby, waiting for the opportunity. Looks like dinner time. Four vamps visible so far.

Sam was apparently as trigger happy as she was and she had to jog to catch up to him as he walked straight through the front door. The vamps turned to them with surprised anger and no one moved for a few minutes.

In the midst of the silence Kayla heard movement from upstairs as well and pulled the dagger out. "Let's get started then huh?"

Before anyone could move a shot echoed off the walls and one of them staggered back with a straight shot through the forehead. He staggered to the ground, the effects of the blood running through his system.

Sam cocked the pistol.

"Nice shot."

The other three didn't waste time in attacking them. Hurried footsteps came down the stairs and they knew they were soon to have company. Sam put another shot into a second vampire before getting knocked down by a third.

The fourth vampire tackled Kayla to the ground, snarling at her like a dog while they wrestled for the knife. While thrashing she managed to put a cut across the thing's arm and it cried out in surprised pain, not expecting the sting of dead mans blood.

She jerked her hand free and drove the dagger into its heart with surprising ease. Ribs weren't as hard to get through as she'd thought. With a new sense of confidence she sprang to her feet in time to see a new player run into the room. Her aim was non existent with the adrenaline and she stabbed it in the base of the neck. Painful with the dead mans blood, but not fatal. She pulled it out and he staggered past her, holding his neck. As he past she stabbed him from behind, a quick, upward movement into its heart. Easier from behind.

The heart of the undead still performed its primary function; pumping blood to the rest of the body. As the poison slowed it down, she cut its head off and shoved the body over onto the floor. She looked over and saw that Sam had beaten her and already taken one out.

Two still moving, though weak as they were, they pinned Kayla to the ground and got her knife from her. Sam ran up on one and kicked it hard in the face before shoving the other one over. He pulled out his own weapon, what looked like a katana and loped the male's head off in some crazy highlander move.

The last one in the room, a woman, punched Sam square in the jaw. Kayla went at it with her knife but she kicked her in the side, Kayla stumbled back and swore she felt a rib crack. This chick was feistier than the rest but it didn't help her when Sam took her head off.

Hurried footsteps echoed through the halls towards the room and Sam handed her the katana. She stood silently near the doorframe and made a clean swipe as the vamp ran through, the head rolled effortlessly onto the floor. After that everything was quiet. Sam pointed up and they started making the rounds of the house.

The ground floor was empty and they moved quickly up the stairs. Sam counted the empty rooms as they went by them, _one, two, three…_he gave a loud grunt as he was stabbed in the arm and shoved against the wall. This was the coward of the group; the one who didn't run to help his comrades. Kayla stuck her dagger into the base of its neck and Sam did the rest.

No more movement, no more noise. The house was empty. Probably good for now, they should get the woman out of here. They went down the stairs and untied her, she seemed unharmed for the most part.

As they loaded everything into the trunk Kayla wiped the blood off her arm. "So what's next?"

"I say we find some demons. Someone's got to know something." He saw the look on the woman's face and stopped the hunting talk. "Mam we're gonna take you home."

She nodded nervously and got into the car.

They didn't bother making conversation with her, just took her home. The vamps had worked them over pretty good and they were tired, bloody, broken. But damn did it feel good.


End file.
